The fist contact made with the enemy was at Dixmude where an officer of "C" Squadron reported that a, black Mercedes Benz open touring çar carrying a white flag and four fully armed German officers had passed him travelling west at a high Speed through Dixmude: he himself pao been so busy trying to arrange for the blowing up of the bridges, that fhisicar had evaded him in the first instance. He soon gave up the fruitless chase and returned to Dix-made to ensure the destruction of the bridges.
It was very desirable that, this enemy staff car should be stopped.
the great dispersion of the was on approximate-front and more than in trying to get all the this was no easy task. from Dixmude expected stop it or shoot"
The "C" Squadron officer then placed his troop of, armoured cars where they could watch the approaches to the bridges; he had to withdraw them a short distance in order to avoid the explosion. They were barely in position—the bridge in fact had hardly been blown ten minutes—when the first party of German motor-cyclists arrived "full-tilt" at the bridge, closely followed by infantry in lorries. It was quite obvious from the way they arrived at the lip of the crater, and the look of surprise on their faces when they found the bridge blown, they had been told to seize the bridge at all costs as there Was no adequate defence on our side and the bridge was intact.
Well directed machine gun fire soon accounted for the motor-cyclists and for many of the men in the leading lorries; nothing stirred for half an hour, when German ambulances arrived. Contrary to the German practice they were allowed to remove their wounded unmolested.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.